


Chapter 5 - Curley's Wife

by homosandhomies



Category: Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck
Genre: Abuse, Autism, Christianity, Domestic Violence, F/M, I named Curley's wife Mary, If you understand why comment below, Implied/Referenced Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Male-Female Friendship, Movie Reference, POV First Person, Religious Imagery & Symbolism, also the bible quote has ~importance~, but like not explicitly stated cuz it's the 1930s, the reference is vague but if you figure it out tell me!
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-11
Updated: 2020-06-11
Packaged: 2021-03-03 21:14:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,311
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24662134
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/homosandhomies/pseuds/homosandhomies
Summary: This was a school assignment and I wish this was longer but my teacher said the maximum page count is 4 pages, so... Hope you like it!
Relationships: Curley/Curley's Wife (Of Mice and Men)
Comments: 4
Kudos: 6





	Chapter 5 - Curley's Wife

**Author's Note:**

> This was a school assignment and I wish this was longer but my teacher said the maximum page count is 4 pages, so... Hope you like it!

I awoke to the sun screaming through the window, “Wake the hell up, Mary!” My head was pounding, and I felt a tender bruise on my right eye, reminding me of last night. 

_ “You good-for-nothin’ whore!” _

_ “Please, baby! I’ll be good, I promise!” _

_ “Shut the hell up!” _

_ Slam. Punch. Glass of liquor. One bottle. Two bottles. Blackout. _

I realized I was in bed under those itchy woolen sheets, a gift  ascribe d to us from Curley’s cheapskate mother. My eyes were drawn to the framed quote on the wall across from me. “I am the light of the world; he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life. John 8:12.”  Curley’s favorite bible verse.

I scoffed. I’ve always had an  aversion to all that religion stuff. If some  omnipotent man in the sky has a grand plan for me, why the hell am I  _ here _ ?

I stumbled out of the house, squinting at the afternoon light and letting the wind brush against the blonde hairs on my arms. There were horses nibbling at the stale-smelling hay, and a loud buzz of flies humming their own little tune. The farm was alive, a circus of tricks and performances, and far too much for my raging hangover. I cringed so hard I could taste bile building up in the back of my throat.

I turned to the barn in search of company, and saw a familiar man who was an adult and child at the same time. He was big, a hippo, but had childish eyes filled with wonder. I called for his attention, and to my surprise, he glared at me. "George says I ain't to have nothing to do with you—talk to you or nothing,” he said.

I laughed. "George giving you orders about everything?"

He  avert ed his eyes from mine. "Says I can't tend no rabbits if I talk to you or anything." 

_ He’s like me, _ I realized.  _ We’re both slaves to our men _ . "He's scared Curley'll get mad,” I said. “Well, Curley got his arm in a sling—an' if Curley gets tough, you can break his other han'.” I knelt beside him. "Listen. All the guys got a horseshoe tenement goin' on. It' on'y about four o'clock. None of them guys is goin to leave that tenement. Why can't I talk to you? I never get to talk to nobody. I get awful lonely.” I batted my eyelashes dramatically.

"Well, I ain't supposed to talk to you or nothing."

"You can talk to people, but I can't talk to nobody but Curley. Else he gets mad. How'd you like not to talk to anybody?"

He said, "Well, I ain't supposed to. George's scared I'll get in trouble."

So that’s what the difference was. His man  _ cared _ for him. Lucky bastard.

"What you got covered up there?" I asked, referring to the lump in front of us covered in hay. A tiny head was poked out, causing me to interrupt him mid-sentence. "Why, he's dead.”

"He was so little," he said. "I was jus' playin' with him… an' he made like he's gonna bite me… an' I made like I was gonna smack him… an'... an' I done it. An' then he was dead."

"Don't you worry none,” I consoled. “He was jus' a mutt. You can get another one easy."

"It ain't that so much," he moaned. "George ain't gonna let me tend no rabbits now." I moved closer to comfort him, but he paused before saying, "If George sees me talkin' to you he'll give me hell."

I scowled, betrayed. "Wha's the matter with me?" I cried. "Ain't I got a right to talk to nobody? I don't know why I can't talk to you. I ain't doin' no harm to you."

"Well, George says you'll get us in a mess,” he said, as if that wasn’t a stab to my heart.

"What kinda harm am I doin' to you?” I yelled. “Seems like they ain't none of them cares how I gotta live. I coulda made somethin' of myself." Unable to stop, I started rambling. "I lived right in Salinas. Well, a show come through, an' I met one of the actors. He says I could go with that show. But my ol’ lady wouldn' let me. She says because I was on'y fifteen. But the guy says I coulda. If I'd went, I wouldn't be livin' like this, you bet." He muttered something under his breath, but I wasn’t gonna let him interrupt me. Someone was gonna hear my story for once in my miserable life. "'Nother time I met a guy, an' he was in pitchers. He says he was gonna put me in the movies. Soon's he got back to Hollywood he was gonna write to me about it." I paused to see his reaction, but he was neutral. "I never got that letter," I continued. "I always thought my ol’ lady stole it. Well, I wasn't gonna stay no place where I couldn't get nowhere or make something of myself. So I married Curley." He was looking down. "You listenin'?" I demanded.

"Me? Sure."

"Well, I ain't told this to nobody before,” I confessed. “I don'  _ like _ Curley. He ain't a nice fella." I moved closer, feeling vulnerable, yet safe. "Coulda been in the movies, an' had nice clothes. An' I coulda sat in them big hotels, an' had pitchers took of me. When they had them previews I coulda went to them, an' spoke in the radio, an' it wouldn'ta cost me a cent because I was in the pitcher. Because this guy says I was a natural.” For emphasis, I did a little pose.

He sighed deeply. Did he understand anything I said? I rolled my eyes in annoyance.

"Maybe if I took this pup out and throwed him away George wouldn't never know. An' then I could tend the rabbits without no trouble,” he said.

"Don't you think of nothing but rabbits?" I complained.

"We gonna have a little place," he explained, unfazed. "We gonna have a house an' a garden and a place for alfalfa, an' that alfalfa is for the rabbits, an' I take a sack and get it all fulla alfalfa and then I take it to the rabbits."

“What makes you so nuts about rabbits?" I asked.

He paused a moment, then moved closer until he was right against me. "I like to pet nice things. Sometimes I've even pet mice, but not when I could get nothing better."

I moved away from him an inch. "I think you're nuts," I retorted.

"No I ain't. George says I ain't. I like to pet nice things with my fingers, sof' things."

"Well, who don't? I like to feel silk an' velvet. Do you like to feel velvet?"

“You bet, by God!” he laughed. “An' I had some, too. A lady give me some, an' that lady was—my own Aunt Clara. I wisht I had that velvet right now." A frown came over his face. "I lost it. I ain't seen it for a long time."

“You're nuts," I laughed. "But a person can see kinda what you mean. When I'm doin' my hair sometimes I jus' set an' stroke it 'cause it's so soft." I put his hand on my head to feel.

"Don't you muss it up," I warned. He talked to himself happily, stroking harder. Too hard. I jerked my head away, but he held on tight. “You let go!” I tried to cry out, but his hand was clamped over my mouth and nose. I was suffocating. My heart was beating so fast it could burst.

This man wasn’t like me; he was Curley. I was his toy. Just a good-for-nothin’ whore.

_Please don’t, Curley!_ _I’ll be good, baby, I PROMISE! DON’T_ _—_

**Author's Note:**

> Update: I got a 100% on the essay!!!!


End file.
